


Ears

by orphan_account



Series: Collection of short fics [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ears, Established Relationship, M/M, body issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-06-17
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Merlin gets a haircut that reveals a bit too much ear, but quickly discovers that Arthur loves it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [achelseabee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/achelseabee/gifts).



> Written for and inspired by Chelsea.

Merlin tugged his beanie hat down a little further over his ears with one hand and fished his key out of his back pocket with the other. He knew getting a haircut was a bad idea - he’d suggested it a week ago and Arthur hadn’t tried to stop him, so it  _must_ have been a bad idea, because Arthur was an idiot. Merlin didn’t really like having hair so long it curled at the ends and made him look scruffy no matter how often he whipped out a comb, but he  _did_ like being able to hide his ridiculous ears from the world. Ten years worth of teasing had been enough to convince Merlin that he was better off keeping his identity as Dumbo’s long-lost grandson as carefully concealed as possible.

That was why getting a haircut had been a bad idea. Since moving in with Arthur, Merlin was living in a totally different part of Cardiff, and so he’d been forced to go to a new barber - a new barber who didn’t understand that ‘a trim’ to Merlin meant little more than a thorough combing and a few scraggly ends snipped away. Instead of Merlin’s usual cut, this guy had trimmed and cut and fussed and shaved until Merlin’s hair was shorter than it had been since he was 13 years old and Will had superglued a toy soldier into his sideburn while he slept.

Merlin had taken one look in the mirror, seen his own big, stupid ears turn bright pink, and scampered out of the shop with his beanie hat already halfway over his eyes. Maybe he could just live in the hat for a few months, until his hair grew back enough to shield his ears from view. He really hoped Arthur would just ignore the hat - maybe he wouldn’t notice it if Merlin could distract him with a naked cooking lesson or some new cufflinks. Arthur liked cufflinks more than cooking.

Alas, Merlin was to have no such luck. Just as he pushed open the door to their flat and slipped inside, Arthur called out a greeting and came bounding into the hall. He was grinning, eyes bright and several buttons undone, with his hair all lovely and fluffy and  _still the same as when Merlin left._ Not shorter or stupider or somehow showcasing the mole on Arthur’s inner thigh to the world (really, of all the things to be most self conscious about?).

“Hey! How was it?” Arthur said, helping Merlin take off his coat and then carefully hanging it up. “Beanie hat bad, eh?”

“Yeah,” Merlin mumbled, nodding at the floor and feeling his cheeks heat up again.

Arthur smiled a little wider. “Well then, let me see the damage.”

Merlin huffed into an empty smile and shook his head, reaching up to tug the beanie hat down a little further as he backed away towards the front door. “No,” he told Arthur, his voice wavering slightly. “No, it’s best if you don’t. I’ll just… wear a hat for a while.”

“No way!” Arthur let out a bark of laughter and Merlin drew back a little further. “Don’t be so ridiculous, Merlin, there wasn’t exactly a lot else that could’ve gone wrong with your hair as it was.”

“Oh piss off!” Merlin said, his voice rising in jest but his stance remaining as defensive as ever.

Arthur simply smirked at him and took a step forwards, reaching for Merlin’s hat. They had a brief struggle, with Merlin grunting in discontent and trying to pull away from Arthur’s persistent hands, only to find himself backed into the door with no escape. Arthur didn’t stop grinning the entire time, but he had to resort to a sly jab in the ribs before he managed to loosen Merlin’s grip on the beanie. Arthur pulled it off Merlin’s head with a triumphant shout, then threw it down the hall behind him.

Merlin felt his cheeks heat up as Arthur studied him. He wanted to reach up and cover his ears with his hands, but he restrained himself - he still had some dignity, however bruised. And besides, Arthur wasn’t laughing anymore. He was just looking back and forth between Merlin’s ears, his eyes still wide and bright with interest. Arthur’s tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip and Merlin felt his own lips curving into a tiny smile.

“What d’you think?” he said - whispered, perhaps, since he barely heard the sound himself.

Arthur lifted his hands to Merlin’s head, running his fingers through the short hair on either side of his head, and nodded. He paused for a moment with his palms brushing the tips of Merlin’s ears and licked his lips again, eyes trained on the only two ridiculous things that Merlin had ever tried to hide from him. Arthur smiled, let his left hand slip down a little until he was cupping Merlin’s right ear, and unceremoniously tugged on the shell.

“Ow!” Merlin whined, trying to pull away. “Don’t be a prick.”

Arthur held Merlin still, his biceps tensing with the effort. “I’m not. I won’t. Sorry- I just.” He ran his thumb along the shell of Merlin’s ear, slow and careful as if he was savouring every moment. It made Merlin shiver.

Then, quite suddenly, Arthur had let go of Merlin’s ears and launched forwards, his lips tracing the skin where his thumb had trailed seconds before. Arthur kissed Merlin’s ear gently at first, grinning against his temple, but quickly picked up speed and began to lick at the tender skin. Merlin was caught between a gasp and a groan, but when he felt the wet heat of Arthur’s tongue tickle close to his earlobe, he had to pull back.

“Shit!” he said before he could help it. “That feels  _weird_. What’re you doing?”

“I’m kissing your ears!” Arthur told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (which, in all honesty, it was). Then those big, strong hands were reaching for Merlin’s jaw, angling it to the left so that Arthur could lean forwards and suck Merlin’s earlobe into his mouth.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Merlin gasped, wrapping his right arm around Arthur’s waist and twisting his fingers in the back of Arthur’s shirt, trying to ground himself in reality as pleasure threatened to tug him out of his own brain. “Fuck, Arthur, oh my God.”

Arthur smiled against Merlin’s skin again. He pulled back and pressed a light kiss to Merlin’s temple.

“Why haven’t you had it cut like this before?” he asked, mouthing Merlin’s skin while Merlin giggled and huffed and squirmed between Arthur’s chest and the door. “I knew you had big ears but these are  _gorgeous_. I love them.”

If it wasn’t for the deep, heated rasp of Arthur’s voice then Merlin might have laughed at that. Instead, he tried to push down the sudden twist of desire that clenched around his stomach. Arthur didn’t seem to notice that Merlin hadn’t answered his question.

“And they’re so sensitive,” he was saying as he kissed and licked behind Merlin’s ear.

“Well, I’m sure if I licked behind  _your_ ear then you’d be pretty bloody sensitive too,” Merlin managed to bite out, pushing Arthur back a step so that he had to detach his mouth from Merlin’s skin. “Stop it, please. I get really self-conscious about them and I’d rather just pretend like-”

“But look at them!” Arthur interrupted, reaching up to tug the shell of Merlin’s right ear again. “You look like a scared little mouse.”

Merlin didn’t move except to raise one eyebrow. “A mouse? Sexy.”

Arthur laughed one of those big, head back, shoulders up, mouth wide, laughs that Merlin loved, then leant forwards and kissed Merlin’s nose. “Shut up and come and lie down so I can kiss your ears some more.”

Merlin didn’t have the heart to argue.


End file.
